Hinge relaunches as a paid members-only relationships app, moving away from Tinder

Hinge is taking a hard left swipe at its own business model. The dating app relaunched Tuesday from a free swiping app into a members-only company -- for 7 per month. Instead of competing with the likes of Tinder, Bumble and Happn (to name a few), Hinge has rebranded itself as the Match.com While some apps define themselves as a way to "meet people" or "discover people," Hinge is now a relationships app. SEE ALSO: Tinder's new function could get you more matches but it'll cost you "When I started Hinge in 2011, there were no other dating apps period. It felt like at this point, there were so many swipey, game apps, and we were just another one," Justin McLeod, founder and CEO, told Mashable.